Matthea writes:
>I am concerned that one person, or a group of people picked by Mr.
Barisonzi,
>becomes the standard by which all others are judged. This Report Card is
advertised
>as being a Report Card of "Neighbors", and it doesn't identify which
neighbors it represents.
I absolutely agree, and have told Joe so. Of course, other DFL subgroups are
not so accountable either. Do they post membership rules, on a website or
whatever? If their membership is open, as I believe Stonewall DFL is (just
to use an example), do they even try to inform all delegates? We (within the
DFL) need to advance the idea of transparency and publicized
membership/screenings across the board.
I think the City for Neighbors effort is laudable delegate education - the
website is detailed on the votes and their background -- but unfortunately
undercut itself somewhat on transparency.
>When Neva Walker did not ask for Mr. Barisonzi's support as she was running
for the
>Minnesota state legislature, he was publicly hostile toward her running for
the state legislator,
>attacking her competence and her person. I think that should say something
about his commitment
>to young women and people of color.
Umm.why? You seem to be conflating opposition (or lack of support) for an
individual candidate with feelings about a group. You've made it impossible
to oppose (or question) a black woman candidate without being racist. That's
a very sloppy litmus test. And dare I say counterproductive to the goal of a
society in which individuals are judged on their merits regardless of race
and sex.
>Mr. Barisonzi has a record that he has developed purporting commitment to
these issues, but
>he has a very difficult time working with poor people and people of color,
as exemplified by his
>issues when working with the Lyndale Neighborhood or when developing the
Neighborhood
>Technical Assistance Program for Center for Neighborhoods. He worked well
with highly educated,
>upper middle class folks but consistently has "bumped heads" with those
outside of that group of folks.
The implication is that Joe is a classist and a racist. The utter lack of
examples makes the charge unconvincing - especially combined with such
sweeping judgments. (Believe me, I know more than a few white middle-class
folks who have "bumped heads" with Joe.)
I think Matthea has a very valid objective point about transparency. But I
think questioning someone's motives detracts from an argument's factual
strength.
I encourage us to stick to those facts: whether the votes are
representative, what they represent, what should be done, and how
representative the group is doing the rating.
David Brauer
King Field - Ward 10
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